Editor's Notes
In this issue we have a very complete report on a very efficiently run meeting (congrats to the new Chairman, who in this seems determined to run things as efficiently as the outgoing chairman, Ken Glasser). We also have some special words from our association Treasurer, the former PRCSF manager, Joe Jarecki, who is now in change of membership records and newsletter mailings, leaving me with the job of editing and printing including finding suitable pictures now that we have color printing - this issue we have included a few winter scenes of the rivers of the PRCSF, beginning with the Pigeon River itself - taken from the new bridge on Sturgeon Valley Rd.
January 16, 2010 Advisory Council Report
Elections
The meeting started at 6:30 PM at the Pigeon River Forest Headquarters with about 15 members present which began with the election of a new Chairman - John Walters and Vice-Chairman Rique Campa. After the elections the meeting was turned over to the new Chairman.
State Bar Recognition
The Michigan Bar Association nominated the Legal proceedings over Oil & Gas development in the Pigeon River Country State Forest for a special award in 2009. The award is for milestone legal cases which have had a lasting impact on the future of Michigan. The award was approved and will be presented in June 2010. The presentation will take place at the Otsego County Building located in downtown Gaylord. After a great deal of discussion over a suitable location for the plaque, it was decided the County Building was the best location, being more visible to those in the legal community.
State Forest Access
The access system in the PRCSF is to be reviewed this year and a committee was appointed consisting of Jim Supina (Chairman), Arch Reeves, Carol Clute, Mike Brown, Bob Hess and Dave Smethurst. If you have items of particular concern please contact Mike Brown as the member representing the PRCA on the Advisory Council as well as the Access Committee.
Green Timber Fence Maintenance
When the Green Timbers Tract was acquired by the State some years back it was decided to leave the existing fence in place as a means of controlling access, (the area was designated for non-motorized use). The fencing has fallen into a state of disrepair recently and the Advisory Council was asked for their opinion on how to proceed with replacement or repair, removal of sections which create a hazard, or other measures deemed appropriate. The Council's recommendation was to, "Leave the Fence as is where it creates no specific hazard, remove sections that create a hazard but do not increase access, and repair or replace those sections which create a hazard and where removal would create enforcement problems with motorized use access."
ORV Use
It appears that there have been few if any problems with the use of ORV's in the PRCSF caused by last year's legislation allowing use on County roads. The restrictions are to be reviewed annually but it appears there will be no recommendations for change from the Council
DNR & DEQ Consolidation
The Advisory Council was informed as I'm sure most are aware by now that DNR Director Humphries has been appointed by Governor Granholm to head the new agency MDNRE (Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment). Beyond that though we were provided additional information that was very difficult to interpret; even those DNRE employees present were not sure exactly how things would fall in place.
Snowmobile use in connection with the Elk Hunt (update)
As reported previously the Advisory Council passed a motion recommending that snowmobiles and other motor vehicles not be used for retrieval of legally harvested Elk in areas which are normally off limits to such vehicles. The only exception would be for MDNRE personnel in performance of their duties. Retrieval of Elk would not be considered part of normal management practices except in the case of illegally killed game in which case the Council would not be opposed to Conservation Officers using motor vehicles to investigate such illegal kills. This was passed along to DNR Director
Humphries and as of this date she has provided no response to the Councils concerns. We have been informed however that local wildlife biologists have had discussions with Mindy Koch and were told to keep doing what they have been doing. The PRCA representative said that this seems to be an indication that at least in this case the MDNRE is not interested in the concerns or wishes of those representing the people of Michigan that own the resource and suggested that this issue be pursued further at the next meeting.
In-holdings and Boundary Lands: Land Acquisition
Unit Manager Scott Whitcomb reported that Inspections for asbestos on the Kronlund and Hackett Lake properties have been authorized as well as the boundary surveys of Hackett Lake. So we move one step closer to returning these properties to a natural setting as intended when purchased to hold in public trust.
The Natural Resources Trust Fund Board recently approved funding for the purchase of a portion of the Ford Family Holding of approximately 900 acres. When asked if this parcel would be included in the PRCSF we were informed that at this time it would not. This concerned some members of the Advisory Council as they had voted to recommend the purchase as well as the previously purchased Hackett Lake property with the understanding that the property would be included in and managed as part of the Pigeon River Country State Forest. It seems that perhaps the DNR (now DNRE) is asking for support from the Advisory Council to sway the NRTF Board in their decision and then not following through with official inclusion in the PRCSF.
A parcel has been offered for sale the State by William Thies, the parcel is 500-600 Acres and is in the Southern part of the PRCSF approximately 1-mile west of Sparr Road at Tin Shanty Bridge Road junction north of Johnson's Crossing. This property was previously owned by the Saunders Family. Since this land is already within the boundary of the PRCSF, if purchased it would be included in the official boundary.
Oil & Gas
The Council was informed that several wells in the Tomahawk Creek area along with several on private holdings of the Black River Ranch have been approved for plugging and abandonment by the DEQ. We are told that these wells are simply not profitable and therefore the lease holders have decided to shut them in. (See following editorial.)
Elk Hunts
Brian Mastenbrook reported that 146 elk were taken during the December hunt period on both public and privates lands. This put the total harvest close to the
targeted number and prompted the decision not to hold a January 2010 hunt.
Future Agenda Items
The Advisory Council listed the following items for discussion at the April 2010 meeting. First, with an ever increasing number of stake holder groups being formed to discuss issues of public lands management, council member Dave Smethurst questioned the role of the Advisory Council and what the future would bring. Member Mike Brown again suggested a field trip in the Forest to familiarize all members with the various features. This was suggested last year but timing did not work out. The trip is tentatively scheduled for Saturday July 17th, 2010. Plans will be finalized at the April 2010 meeting with hopes that the Council meeting and field trip can be held the same day and invite Director Humphries up as well.
The Advisory Council meeting ended around 8:30PM. The next meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 PM at the PRCF Headquarters on Friday April 9th, 2010.
(Michael Brown, PRCA representative to the PRCSFAC)
A Reminder from the Treasurer
Your continuing membership in the Pigeon River Country Association helps the Association accomplish its mission to protect and defend the unique wild characteristics of the Pigeon River Country. Your membership dues help pay for things like the scholarship for a student intern to work at the PRC Headquarters and the costs of participating in the lawsuit over the June, 2008, Song of the Morning dam sediment release that killed large numbers of fish and other aquatic organisms for several miles downstream.
The Association has supported a student intern/summer worker at the PRC Headquarters since the late 1970s. The student intern assists with the underfunded recreation and education programs by assisting with pathway maintenance and updating the educational materials in the PRC Headquarters Office/Visitor Center. The student intern also helps with other projects such as maintenance of the Vehicle Access Plan which is critical to protecting the wild character of the PRC. While the Association's lawyer is acting on a pro bono basis, there are still costs associated with the Song of the Morning dam lawsuit. Sales of Association products such as the PRC/High Country Pathway Map, the PRC Poster Map, Dale Franz's book Pigeon River Country, and donations provide part of our needs, but your annual membership is essential for the Association to be able to continue protecting and defending the unique wild characteristics of the PRC.
You can find the year your dues have been paid through after your name on the newsletter address label. (If you think it is wrong, let me know by mail or email. The addresses are on the Order/Membership Renewal form on the last page of the newsletter.) According to our Bylaws, dues are current through July 1st, so if your address label says /09, your dues are good until this summer. However, it is okay if you prefer to renew your annual membership around the beginning of the year rather than wait until July. Those of you with /10 on your address label have recently renewed (thanks) and are good until July 1, 2011. If your address label shows a year prior to /09, please renew your membership.
On another topic, the Board of Directors decided to offer you the option of receiving your newsletter by email. We will continue to send the newsletter through the mail, but if you prefer email delivery, let us know. Even though it saves about $5/year, please only request email delivery if you prefer it. The Board believes it is more important for members to read about Association activities than it is to save a little money, so please only request the email version by sending a message to info@pigeonrivercountryforest.org if you are at least as likely to read the newsletter in that form.
Thanks for your support of the Pigeon River Country State Forest and for your membership in the PRC Association.
(Joe Jarecki, PRCA Treasurer)
Editorial: Future Drilling Prospects in the PRCSF
The announcement that a number of gas wells drilled on Black River Ranch (just east of the Blue Lake Tract) in addition to some wells even farther to the NE, makes previous decisions to recommend very tight restrictions before allowing drilling on portions of the former Blue Lakes Tract (which resulted in delaying of drilling there) a very wise and fortunate decision. It seems that the prospects of drilling viable Antrim shale gas wells thereare not all that great. But the attempts to do so would have meant a major disruption on the Blue Lakes Tract.
This is largely due to the underlying geology of the Michigan, particularly the whole lower peninsula and much of the eastern UP. The bedrock of the whole state with the exception of the western UP is shaped something like a shallow saucer, with the lowest point being underneath the Ithaca-Mt. Pleasant area, and the edges of that saucer stretching out as far east as the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario (where it can be seen in the rock formations at Niagara Falls, the Bruce Peninsula, and the Manitoulin Island group, and in Michigan and Wisconsin, with outcrops in the Eastern UP, the Garden Peninsula and the peninsula and islands east of Green Bay - in other words a broad arc encompassing much of Lakes Huron and Michigan. This Niagaran bedrock, consisting of dolomite (limestone that was formed by an ancient sea-bed) also supported ancient coral reefs in which pockets of oil and gas was trapped, and which, when drillers were lucky, led to the initial oil and gas boom in an around the PRCSF. The depths of these Niagaran reef wells hereabouts generally ranged just short of 5,000 ft.
However, it was generally noticed back when all this initial drilling took place that whiffs of methane gas were encountered well above that depth, but were for a long time ignored as of little value - that is, until the federal government incentives and rising gas prices made it profitable to start exploiting this gas. This gas is trapped in what is called "Antrim shale" (which geologists think may be a vast layer of mud that flowed westward from Appalachian uplift eons ago and eventually became compressed.) And the most attractive thing about this deposit is that it is shallow, only about 1,000 ft. below or less in this area, depending how much the glacial overburden of sand and gravel (our local hills) one has to drill though first. But there is a problem with this deposit: it seems that the gas it contained seeps out wherever the shale gets close to the surface without enough other kinds of rock to cap or seal the gas in place. This appears to be the problem encountered in the NE section of the PRCSF - especially because of the general saucer shape of the lower peninsula bedrock, and where the Antrim shale emerges to the level where there is nothing but sand and gravel above it, and now contains very little trapped gas.
Above: a cross-section representation (somewhat exaggerated in depth) of the lower Michigan geological basin from W. (on the left) to E. (on the right).
Does this mean that oil and gas exploration is more or less finished in Michigan? It seems not, because there is an even deeper layer, far below that of the Niagaran or Guelph dolomite. This is another layer of sedimentary dolomite called the Prairie du Chien ("Dog Prairie") which is also believed to contain deposits of oil and gas. Because of its greater depth (about 3,000 ft deeper than the Niagaran reefs) it is a very expensive proposition to drill for, and also requires an extensive area of mineral lease acquisitions - one square mile area per well (vs.
80 acres for a Niagaran well or only 40 acres for an Antrim well unless it is on state-owned land).
That is the good news for nature-lovers. The bad news, however, is because the Prairie de Chien deposit is so deep, it is down there to be tapped under almost all the LP and even up under the eastern UP. So if petroleum prices eventually get high enough, you can almost safely bet that mineral rights, leases, and drilling permits will long be an issue in the PRCSF. It is also a very good reason that the State continues its present policy of securing the mineral rights, not just for the Blue Lakes Tract, but for every piece of property that it acquires for public use. (R W Kropf, editior )
Prairie du Chien outcrops
(beige band on map in UP)
Engadine dolomite
(light green band)
Antrim Shale bedrock
outcrops (lavender band)
Above: Michigan bedrock (surface outcrops and subsurface top layer of bedrock).
Courtesy of About.com. See http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/blmichiganmap.htm